Note: Hi everyone! Firstly, thanks so much to all the new followers to both this site and my main site. It meant a lot to me to see how many people enjoyed this story and wanted more. Next, a little about this chapter. I will start off by saying Daryl will be a little out of character but I back this up by saying "well why the hell not, its fanfiction and its Bethyl" but honestly, I think we were starting to see a softer side of Daryl when he was with Beth and that would have (could still) happened in future episodes. Also, as I am posting this pre-Season 5B, I am just kinda guessing what would happen at Beth's "funeral" so for those who read this AFTER the mid-season premier, I hope his still sounds ok. The chapter will include a flashback from Daryl's point of view and the a smutty-ness will start by the end of next chapter – trust me. With all that being said, again thanks to everyone who now follows this blog and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Daryl bit his bottom lip, his nervous tick as Merle had often called it and eyed the blonde girl before him. "I don't want 'ya gettin' upset or nothin', we thought you were dead."

"I understand that Daryl. Just tell me please." He nodded and settled back against the barn.

He felt the tears in his eyes as he bent down to lift her into his arms. Dead weight – she was now dead weight. Daryl remembered the time he had carried her – bridal style, mind – into their "redneck breakfast" a few weeks ago. She had been laughing and mocking him ("Don't you dare drop me Daryl Dixon!") and he wished to whoever was listening (if anyone was even listening anymore) that she would do that again. But Beth wouldn't be mocking him or laughing at him again.

"Daryl," came Rick's voice from behind him, "you don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," he replied gently, pulling her closer so her small body rest against him. Her blood soaked hair still had the smell of vanilla in it and Daryl held back a sob. "Need to do it for her." Rick nodded and they all cleared a path for Daryl, letting him walk past the others with the small woman in his arms.

None of the cops moved. Rick had glared at them hatefully before ushering his people out of the hospital. The ex-Sheriff could see that Daryl was having a hard time with Beth's death and even though he knew the hardened hunter wouldn't talk much about it, Rick hoped that he could somewhat help his friend through this ordeal.

As the double doors came into view, Rick noticed an approaching vehicle and cursed under his breath as Maggie, Glenn and the others who had been heading to Washington jumped down off an old fire truck. Maggie looked slightly excited and Rick hoped to get to her before she saw her sister but he was too late.

Maggie spotted Daryl walking out of the hospital, her sister's limp body held firmly in his arms. She cried out – screamed more like – as Daryl sunk to his knees, no longer being back to carry her without crying. He hadn't cried since the night he lost her, when he had passed out on that deserted road at the end of the trail and Joe and his men found him. He had cried then, like he was now, silently and subtly. Maggie approached him pulled Beth's head to her chest, stroking her hair gently. Daryl was reminded of how Andrea had stroked her sister's hair after she had been killed.

"Maggie I-"

"What happened?" Maggie asked, sternness in her voice. When no one replied, she shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?"

Rick had lent down and placed his hand on Maggie's shoulder and explained what had happened during the exchange. Maggie had slapped Daryl across the face hard. Carol gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. Rick's eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head.

"This is all your fault!" she shouted, standing over him and Beth's body now, yelling down at him like he was a child – like his mother and father had done many times before to him and Merle, "You shouldn't have let her go! You should have grabbed her and pulled her back! She didn't have to die."

Daryl didn't say anything, he just took what Maggie was shouting at him while he held Beth's body close to his. Glenn came over and tried to calm Maggie down, moving her away. Rick squatted down beside Daryl. "Hey, we'll find a nice place to bury her. Father Gabriel can do the reading." Daryl nodded but still made no move to release her body. Tyreese and Sasha went in search of a sheet and returned soon after with one. Carol helped him wrap her and Daryl continued to hold her once she was wrapped.

"Should clean her," he whispered to Carol who simply nodded and asked Rick for some water and a cloth. Carol moved to wipe the cloth over Beth's hairline when Daryl grunted a "no" before taking the cloth from her and cleaning the blood from her hair himself. Carol watched on in disbelief as the hardened man she had tried to get to open up to her, gently and carefully cleaned the young woman's blood from her hair.

Her funeral had been simple. Daryl had demanded to dig the grave, Rick and the others not minding at all. It seemed to help him feel a little better. That was until it came to lowering her body in. Maggie glared at him when he carried her from the car they had taken from the hospital to the freshly dug hole. Rick and Glenn both mentioned to her to be quiet. Daryl look one last look into Beth's face before carefully lowering her into the hole and standing beside Rick as Father Gabriel gave the service. It was soon after, as he had started placing dirt over her body (from the feet first, wanting to leave her face until last) that they heard the familiar sound of growling.

Daryl tried to quicken but Rick grabbed his arm and shouted at him that they needed to get to safety. Daryl shouted back saying "Beth don't deserve this." Rick had simply replied that they would return to bury her later. Finally Daryl agreed with Rick when the walkers began to emerge from the woods nearby. They didn't stay to fight the small herd, just jumped in their various vehicles and driving off.

Daryl had gripped the steering wheel of the car he was driving so hard he was sure his fingernails were going to start to bleed. For an hour they drove and Michonne and Tyreese trying to calm Judith in the back wasn't helping him. He slammed his foot on the break and stopped their convoy. Daryl turned the car into reserve and started off back towards where they had left her. He couldn't just leave her there, buried in a half grave.

He ignored Rick shouting at him from the other car and sped back to the clearing they had chosen. There were dead walkers around her grave. He could see they and had hoped that none of them had touched her body. He jumped out of the car and raced to where he had dug the grave when he saw it. And what he saw made him turn and vomit.

Lying in the sheet, in the half empty grave, was a body with barely anything left on it. Daryl wretched as he turned, emptying his stomach of the barely there contents. The others soon arrived and Daryl jumped to his feet and grabbed Maggie, pulling her against him and telling her, "Please don't look." She sobbed into his chest as Rick and Tyreese wrapped the body up and placed it back in the grave, covering it over with fresh dirt.

Maggie and Daryl clung to each other while Father Gabriel continued the service before Maggie passed out. Daryl handed her off to Glenn before turning and looking down at Beth's grave. He knelt down in front of it, thankful everyone else had left before he whispered so soft, he didn't even hear himself say it, "I'm sorry."

"Daryl…" Beth whispered, coming closer to him. Daryl stiffened as she neared him, not sure he could take her touch right then. Beth frowned and turned towards the barn. "That bastard!" He followed her back into the barn as she strode right up to Riley and as he stood up from his kneeled position by the fire he went to speak "Hey Beth, whats wr-" before being cut off by a slap to his face.

"You bastard! You fucking bastard!" Daryl rose at eyebrow at Beth's language. Before today he had only ever heard her swear once – "Thats bullshit!" – and he had to admit, he liked feisty Beth. Probably a little to much, he thought as he felt his pants tighten.

"Beth, what the hell?" Riley shouted, grasping his now red cheek. Daryl didn't like how this kid had shouted at Beth.

"You put another body in the grave!" she shouted back at him, "What the actual fuck Riley! You made them think I was dead! Put another corpse in my grave to make them think I was dead!"

"They left you for dead! The only reason you're alive is because I did CPR on you. If we hadn't have come when we did, you would have been eaten by those things or worse – you could have turned Beth."

"Yes okay, fine, you saved me and you know I'll be grateful to you for that but you didn't have to leave another body in my grave. Especially one that had been eaten alive. Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it mattered. Beth, they abandoned you."

"I was dead!" she shouted, making Daryl jump. "They thought I was dead because I was dead! You saved me Riley, I know, but for all they knew I was dead. But you still shouldn't have put another person there."

Riley hung his head, still holding his sore cheek.

"Who was it?"

"Pardon?"

"Who was it? The body?"

Riley sighed heavily and knew Beth was going to be angry with him. "My girlfriend, Anne." Beth saw red. She clenched her fist and swung at Riley's head, smacking him in the jaw once before Daryl grabbed her and pulled her away from him.

"You sick son of a bitch!" she shouted.

"She had been killed in the attack. I'm sorry Beth okay. I needed to save you, when I saw your face under the sheet. Anne was already dead beside me and I needed to save her but I couldn't…she was gone."

"And you thought it best to put her rotting and dead body in the grave of the girl you saved, the girl who you had sex with a year later? Just jumping from one girl to the other aren't you Riley?" Riley tried to speak but Daryl cut her off. "Why did you never tell me about her? Or anyone else in our group?"

"No one knew we were together. Her parents – Michael and Jane – didn't want her dating someone when there were dead people walking around."

Beth paled at the names of the people he had mentioned. Michael and Jane – the married couple who had gone off and committed suicide a week later. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Beth, sweetie I'm sorry."

"Don't!" she wretched her arm from his and glared at him. "Don't you dare call me sweetie. You lied to me. You buried your girlfriend in my grave. Michael and Jane killed themselves because of me! Because you stopped and helped me and their daughter was killed."

"Beth please."

"No. You do not get to speak to me again." Beth turned and faced Daryl, fresh tears in her eyes. "Please tell me Maggie is alive."

"She is."

"And you're all held up somewhere safe?"

"There's a settlement – not far from here, maybe a day. Its got walls and great defences and a few farms. Maggie and everyone else are there. Includin' your niece."

"M-My niece? Maggie had a baby?"

"Yep – called her Elizabeth." Beth smiled at the name and lifted her eyes to meet Daryl's.

"Take me to them?" she asked softly.

"Course."

Note: So there's chapter two. Like I said, the sexi shenanigans will start next chapter and things will start to go a little differently in Daryl's and Beth's lives. I don't know what direction I want to take Riley's character – to kill him off or not? I suppose its going to be a major plot point no matter what I decide but I would like to know what YOU all think should happen with him? I love reviews, comments and suggestions so don't forget to leave some for me to read over. I will try and get another chapter out this week but I can't promise anything because RL is rather frantic this week. Thanks all.